Poetry Contest

Third Place

 

Immortal Ruin

 

By: Aidan McConnell

Sophomore, Providence High School

 

Far, far from civilization

Lies a ruin, a decrepit remnant

Of an evil so powerful

It consumed a nation, the world.

 

Behind the twisting, corroded gates,

Lies a terrain stained with blood, sweat and fear

Of a generation

Victimized by blind arrogance.

 

Work emancipates – What a lie!

Steely words taunt desperate souls.

False hope overshadows

Tolerance that truly liberates.

 

Spirits flit through the wreckage

Of decaying bunkers, chambers, warehouses

Banshees scream through the Night

Remembering, lamenting their immortality.

 

Amidst the scattered splinters of wooden boxcars

Along a railroad that extends for eternity

Voices echo across an abandoned plain

Delivering messages of remembrance and regret.

 

Righteous throngs clamored to reveal

The depths of this abomination,

An awakening, awareness of purpose,

Made sense of this madness.

 

Memory, recollection, announcements, proclamations

Defined by lessons, manifested by deeds

Reversed a trend of hatred, persecution

Clarified cultures of brethren, as equals.

 

Where a people once suffered, toiled on scorched earth,

Visitors now stumble through the remains

Of a mausoleum, a memorial

Preserved to prevent, existing to honor innocence.